Cary Grant

Archibald Alexander Leach, better known as Cary Grant, was born on January 18, 1904. He was best known for his drop-dead handsome face and his devil-may-care attitude. He was charming popular, and not only with women. Hollywood directors and producers of film loved his dashing good looks and his movies were all sure to be box office hits.

Grant might have been best known for his screen performances, but he also made a great many radio appearances. His “trans-Atlantic” accent made his voice a distinct separation from others on the radio at the time.

Many of Grant’s radio appearances were based on some of the films in which he played the leading man. He appeared on a play called Suspicion on the 1940's radio show, Academy Award, which was an anthology of famous movie stories.

The Cavalcade of America was a historical dramatic radio show in which Grant appeared along with other Hollywood stars such as Tyrone Power, Mickey Rooney and Agnes Moorehead. Cavalcade was a show that stressed the positive characteristics of America, including stories about the nation’s history.

Grant also appeared in Ceiling Unlimited, a wartime drama that was broadcast during the 1940s and used a series of dramas to emphasize the war effort. The programs were presented without commercial breaks by Lockheed Vega and featured such stars as Charles Boyer, Edward G. Robinson and Basil Rathbone.

During the 1930s, NBC broadcast a show called The Circle, a talk show featuring famous Hollywood stars. Cary Grant was in the cast, along with Ronald Coleman, Carole Lombard and Groucho and Chico Marx. The show was an elaborate and expensive failure due to the high fees the stars demanded and some of the egos the show had to contend with.

The Doctor Fights was a war anthology featuring a stellar cast of Raymond Massey, Robert Young, Van Heflin and Cary Grant. It was a show that attempted to honor the nation’s doctors, some of whom were on the front lines of the war at the time. Grant played the role of a doctor in a Japanese stockade.

Cary Grant also appeared in many episodes of Suspense including Black Path of Fear and Black Curtain but probably the most memorable was the chilling thriller On A Country Road.

The novel, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream Home played a big part in Grants life. He was cast in the leading role in the film and also in a short-lived radio situation comedy called, Mr. and Mrs. Blandings. There was much backstage bickering, and the show only lasted a few months.

Grant was born in Bristol, England and passed away from a cerebral hemorrhage in Davenport, Iowa on November 29, 1986 at the age of 82.

I will be adding some shows starring Cary Grant over the week followed by a full list of shows he has appeared in.

Happy listening my friends,